The El Prado Complex is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

in Balboa Park in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The complex includes 13 contributing buildings and one contributing structure. Most of the structures were built for San Diego's Panama-California Exposition of 1915–16 and were refurbished and re-used for the

California Pacific International Exposition The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park, San Diego's large c ...

of 1935–36. The original architects were

Bertram Goodhue Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (April 28, 1869 – April 23, 1924) was an American architect celebrated for his work in Gothic Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for t ...

and

Carleton Winslow Carleton Monroe Winslow (December 27, 1876 – 1946), also known as Carleton Winslow Sr., was an American architect, and key proponent of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Southern California in the early 20th century. Biography Win ...

. The area was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1976.

Components

The complex incorporates the following: *

Cabrillo Bridge The Cabrillo Bridge in San Diego, California is a historic bridge providing pedestrian and light automotive access between Balboa Park and the Uptown area of San Diego. It was built for the 1915 Panama–California Exposition. The bridge was nom ...

, together with its approaches and guardhouses, built over a canyon in 1915 to serve as the primary entrance to the fair and Balboa Park, virtually unchanged since *

Alcazar Garden Alcazar Garden is a garden in San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eigh ...

, built for the 1915 fair as Montezuma's Gardens, renamed Alcazar Gardens for the 1935 fair *

Spreckels Organ Pavilion Spreckels Organ Pavilion houses the open-air Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. The Spreckels Organ is the world's largest pipe organ in a fully outdoor venue. Constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, it is loc ...

, built for the 1915 fair and virtually unchanged since *

Plaza de Panama Plaza de Panama is a plaza in Balboa Park's El Prado Complex, in San Diego, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approxi ...

, an open space surrounded by the San Diego Museum of Art, the

Timken Museum of Art The Timken Museum of Art is a fine art museum, established in 1965 and located at 1500 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, close to the San Diego Museum of Art. History The groundwork for the museum was laid in 1951 when Walter ...

, the House of Hospitality and the House of Charm; originally an open pedestrian plaza; used for parking in recent decades; currently closed to parking and being converted back into a pedestrian plaza * El Prado Arcade, a continuous covered arcade and walkway demarcated by arches; basically unchanged from 1915 except for repairs * Botanical Building, a lath-covered structure with two reflecting pools, built for the 1915 fair and re-used essentially unchanged for the 1935 fair *

House of Charm The House of Charm is a historic museum building in Balboa Park, San Diego. It was built for the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition, and like most buildings from that Exposition it features Mission Revival Style architecture. It acquired its c ...

, originally built for the 1915 fair as the Indian Arts Building, renamed the Russia and Brazil building in 1916; intended to be temporary; changed to House of Charm for the 1935 fair; demolished in the 1990s for structural reasons and reconstructed using the original building as a model; now houses the

Mingei International Museum The Mingei International Museum is a non-profit public institution that collects, conserves and exhibits folk art, craft and design. The museum was founded in 1974, and its building opened in 1978. The word mingei, meaning 'art of the people,' wa ...

House of Hospitality A house of hospitality or hospitality house, in the United States, is an organization to provide shelter, and often food and clothing, to those who need it. Originally part of the Catholic Worker Movement, houses of hospitality have been run by ot ...

, originally built for the 1915 fair as the Foreign Arts Building; intended to be temporary; changed to House of Hospitality for the 1935 fair; demolished in the 1990s for structural reasons and reconstructed using the original building as a model * Casa del Prado, originally built for the 1915 fair as the Varied Industries Building, renamed the Foreign and Domestic Industries Building in 1916; intended to be temporary; changed to Food and Beverage Building for the 1935 fair; housed the San Diego Aerospace Museum from 1963 to 1965; demolished in the 1960s for structural reasons and reconstructed using the original building as a model * Electrical Building, originally built for the 1915 fair as the Commerce and Industries Building, renamed the Canadian Building in 1916; intended to be temporary; changed to the Palace of Better Housing for the 1935 fair; renamed Electrical Building after the fair; home of the

San Diego Aerospace Museum San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM, formerly the San Diego Aerospace Museum) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, United States. The museum is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, ...

from 1965 to 1978; burned down in 1978; reconstructed as

Casa de Balboa Casa de Balboa is a building in San Diego's Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park, in the U.S. state of California. The building was originally known as the Commerce and Industries Building, and later called the Canadian Building, the Palace of Bett ...

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...

, built in 1926 as the Fine Arts Gallery; built on the site of the 1915 Sacramento Valley Building, renamed the United States Building in 1916, which was intended to be temporary and was demolished in 1924 *

San Diego Natural History Museum The San Diego Natural History Museum is a museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1874 as the San Diego Society of Natural History. It is the second oldest scientific institution west of the Mississippi and th ...

building, built in 1933 on the site of the 1915 Southern California Counties building, which was converted to a Civic Auditorium after the 1915 fair and burned down in 1925; during the 1935 fair the new building was called the Palace of Natural History

Map

This is a schematic map of the Panama-California Exposition as it appeared in its second year, 1916. The El Prado Complex corresponds to El Prado, the central avenue (gray), together with the buildings and plazas on either side of it. The blue area between it and the Cabrillo Bridge is the

California Quadrangle The California Quadrangle, California Building, and California Tower are historic structures located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park in San Diego, California. They were built for the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition and served as ...

, also listed on the National Register.

Gallery

File:Cabrillo Bridge-2.jpg,

File:Balboa Park Botanical Building 04.jpg, Botanical Building File:Balboa Park Botanical Building -4 - 2010-04-27.JPG, Botanical Building with its reflecting pool File:Spreckels Organ Pavilion front view.JPG,

File:Alcazar Garden - Balboa Park.JPG,

File:San Diego. Balboa Park. House of Hospitality..TIF,

File:SanDiegoCasaDeBalboa.jpg, Casa de Balboa and the El Prado Arcade File:San Diego Museum of Art 02.jpg,

File:San Diego Natural History Museum exterior.jpg,

File:Casa Del Prado detail.jpg, Casa del Prado architectural detail

References

{{National Register of Historic Places History of San Diego Balboa Park (San Diego) Bertram Goodhue buildings Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California National Register of Historic Places in San Diego World's fair architecture in California Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California 1935 establishments in California